Friday, December 26, 2008

Cajun Chicken and Shrimp Pasta

This is another quick and easy pasta dish with wonderful spicy cajun flavor. I used shrimp and chicken for this dish but you can use any kind of protein of your choice. I didn’t add any red or yellow peppers to it as I ran out of it but you can always add it to this pasta dish. As for the half and half you can replace with with heavy cream.

Ingredients :

1/2 box pasta of your choice (I used wholewheat penne)
2 pc of chicken breast
1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled/deveined
1 small onion, diced
2 tomatoes - diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp of flour
1 1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp of pepper flakes
some chopped parsley
2 tsp of cajun seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the pasta until al-dente and set it aside. Cut chicken into thin strip and season it with the cajun seasoning.
2. Heat a bit of olive oil over medium heat in a pan. Saute the chicken breast until lightly brown. Dish out and set it aside.
2. In the same skillet add a bit of olive oil, add the onions and garlic. Saute until lightly brown. Add the flour and stir it for a minute or two, to cook off rawness of the flour.
3. Add the half and half, cheese and stir until thick. Add the shrimp, chicken and tomatoes into the skillet to cook through.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper, pepper flakes (and more Cajun seasoning, if desired). Toss in the pasta.
5. Garnish with some chopped parsley.

17 comments:

homeladychef said...

Nicely done! Give me some ideas how to cook pasta with cajun. =)

Little Corner of Mine said...

Yum, looks creamy and delicious!

Sri said...

Yum! I never thot of adding cajun seasoning onto pasta. Thanks for the idea. This looks yummy!

Nate @ House of Annie said...

I might have used some Old Bay to season the chicken and the shrimp.

Looks good. You should enter this in Presto Pasta Nights.

Beachlover said...

what a great idea to use cajun spices for pasta!! I always use cajun spices to season chicken for roasting but never for pasta..Might try this one day soon!

ICook4Fun said...

Homeladychef, Happy Holidays to you :)

LCOM, thank you.

Sri, you should try this. Its really yummy :)

Annie, now you mentioned the Old Bay seasoning, I might put some in it the next time.

Lesley, try to put some cajun seasoning in the next time you cook your pasta :)

test it comm said...

That shrimp pasta looks really good!

emily said...

This looks magnificent! I can't wait to try it. The sauce sounds amazing.

Anonymous said...

Hi icook4fun, thanks for sharing this simple yet tasty looking recipe! one question, may i know what do you mean when you say half and half? thank you in advance :)

ICook4Fun said...

Kevin, thank you.

Emily, thank you.

Anon, half and half is a dairy product here. Its a mixture of one part milk and one part cream. You can always substitude it with half milk and half cream or just use cream for this pasta dish.

Ben-jam-in said...

Just made this tonight with my fiance... so delicious! Bought some fresh shrimp & chicken cutlets on the way home, whipped everything together, and it was fantastic! Excellent recipe, will definitely make again!

ICook4Fun said...

Ben-jam-in, glad you and your fiance like this pasta.

Anonymous said...

What if I used some top ramen noodles or spaghetti noodles instead??? dont have penne noodles...and also is there a something else i can use instead of half n half...dont have any cream...what if I used milk??

ICook4Fun said...

Anon, you can used any type of pasta or noodles you like. As for the half and half you can always replace it with milk but your pasta won't be so creamy.

Siesie said...

This is great! Especially since I used the old bay for extra seasoning :)

Anonymous said...

Absolutely delicious!

Anonymous said...

Didn't have any cream, used cream cheese... Amazing!!!